Background
In a move to combat the growing global need for affordable housing, Barcelona has implemented a new policy meant to utilize vacant housing infrastructure. The city’s housing department is telling property owners of vacant apartments and houses that they must rent out their spaces or face the possibility of being expropriated (forced to sell to the city) at as little as 50% market prices. In addition, property owners could face tens of thousands of euros in fines. This is an extension of a previous policy that allowed the city to temporarily rent out vacant housing and then return it to the owners after a few years. However, under the new policy any housing that has been vacant for more than two years could be subject to permanent forced sale. These units would then be used as low-rent apartments and public housing to meet the city’s affordable housing needs. The city claims that the objective of this forced sale policy is not to seize a large number of units but instead to pressure property owners towards renting out existing housing at affordable prices.
The Homeless Entrepreneur Perspective
We would like to applaud Barcelona for taking decisive action on such an important issue. Ensuring that there is adequate affordable housing available is a vital step in preventing homelessness and we are happy to see our organization’s home city recognizing this fact. This must be the first of many steps that Barcelona takes in continuing to stabilize its rental market moving into the future. Dr. Sergio Nasarre-Aznar, a Professor of Civil Law and Director of the Housing Chair at the University Rovira i Virgili, has stated that “The two main causes for [a poor rental market] are the bad state-of-repair of many dwellings in Spain… and the legal framework that makes tenancies a “risky” and “not-so-profitable” operation for landlords and an undesired option for tenants as most of them would become owners if they could.” With this in mind it is important that the considerations of both tenants and landlords be weighed as we move forward. The new vacant housing policy helps to combat a dangerous trend in the real estate community. Instead of viewing housing as an essential resource, large banks and investment groups have treated housing infrastructure as mere investment assets. As such rather than renting out properties to meet the desperate demand for affordable housing, these groups have allowed their property to sit empty to accumulate value or avoid risk. This practice of real estate speculation presents a clear danger to the availability of housing that should be treated as an essential human resource. There are currently an estimated 3.4 million empty homes in Spain that could be utilized to provide additional affordable housing to those who need it. People should not be priced out of being able to afford shelter while so much housing infrastructure sits unused. We encourage not only other cities, but nations at large to consider adopting policies similar to those in Barcelona and taking steps to create a more sustainable housing market. However, it is also important to weigh these practices against the rights of property owners to ensure the continuation of private investment in housing infrastructure. For this reason Homeless Entrepreneur believes that the current two year time frame presents a fair opportunity for property owners to make necessary improvements and find new tenants to fill vacancies. A shorter sixth month time frame has been considered but such a move could discourage private housing investment if property owners fear they may always face imminent danger of expropriation at below market prices.
What is Next?
While Barcelona’s new vacant housing policy is certainly a step in the right direction it is by no means an absolute solution to affordable housing. So where do we go from here? Well, we can begin by supporting the continuation and expansion of Barcelona’s new policy. Spreading policies like Barcelona’s will help to ensure that even more areas begin to treat housing as the essential resource that it is. Supporting this action will serve to push property owners towards renting out a greater number of housing units at more affordable rates. In addition, expropriation policies are by no means the only way of creating more affordable housing. If you are interested in learning more about the types of policies that you can support to help create more affordable housing and prevent homelessness, consider exploring our article on Housing Policy.
How to Help
The best way you can help to bring about housing policy reform is by showing your government representatives that you support these proposals. While the policies mentioned above are all steps in the right direction, they will not be successful without the active participation of local and national leadership. As Tom Baker, a professor of Human Geography at Auckland University puts it, “Decades of inclusive zoning and developer subsidies have not delivered a great deal of 'properly' affordable housing, both in relative and absolute terms. It is increasingly clear that improvements to affordability cannot be achieved without substantial state involvement in the housing sector”.
If you are interested in learning more about how you can help, consider lending support to non-profits like Homeless Entrepreneur who seek to advocate on behalf of homeless and low income individuals. In addition to the Homeless Hostels Work Program mentioned above, Homeless Entrepreneur also operates:
The HELP Program:
The HELP Program works by matching individual participants with nine managers in the key areas of: professional development, education, health, housing, finance, legal assistance, communication, sales, and a mentor. This creates a support structure of individuals all working together to help participants achieve housing and financial independence within twelve months.
https://www.homelessentrepreneur.org/en/help-program
Homeless Voices:
Homeless Voices provides insight into the lives of homeless individuals to connect them with their community along with housing and employment opportunities, so they can grow their income and build their assets. People are given the opportunity to tell their story and expose the ways in which our current system is failing to meet the needs of many.
https://www.homelessentrepreneur.org/en/he-voices
Homeless Helpline:
The Homeless Helpline collects real-time data from and about homeless people or those about to become homeless and connects them to available resources. By acting as an information hub Homeless Helpline aims to prevent and reduce homelessness.